French fed bans radios

Marc Madiot is a proponent of radio-free racing (Image credit: Brecht Decaluwé)

While different commissions at the UCI are in talks about the use and abuse of radio communication via ear pieces between directeurs sportifs and riders, the French have decided to ban them at the national championship in Saint-Brieuc on June 28.

"It's an experiment and we hope it will show better cycling," said Marc Madiot who took this decision as the president of the French pro cycling league (LCPF) that oversees teams, riders and organisers. Under French law, the LCPF runs professional cycling on a national level separately from the French cycling federation (FFC), but it appeared that the new president of the FFC, David Lappartient, is also a strong opponent of radios. He's the leader of the anti-radio movement on the board of the UCI.

"We want to restore the initiative of the riders," Madiot said. "They have to study the courses of the races like we used to do when we competed before the inception of the radios. By doing so, we also intend to restore the essence of the job of the directeur sportif. Without radios, the morning's briefing has to be perfect because there's no possibility to correct the instructions during the race."